An Ordinary Day?
by ForeverChild
Summary: Under the great detectives everyone knows and adores are just two normal but slightly more loveable boys. A silly story on a normal day in the life of the Hardy Boys without any mysteries to solve. Well, one that doesn't involve cookies that is. WeeHardys.


_No Nancy Drew in this one. I like leaving her in her own universe. Frank is 9 and Joe is 8._

* * *

The howls of laughter and shrieking bombarded my ears. Trying to get me to lose focus.

It had rained that night and the sun was hiding behind the clouds, leaving the ground wet and muddy, much to my younger brother's delight. As soon as he could get out of the house he was stomping around in the mud puddles. Our parent's had left that morning to go on their usual trip to the city on their anniversary, leaving our aunt in charge of us, and me in charge of Joe.

Mrs. Morton had dropped her kids off at our house while she stopped by her work place to pick something up.

I ignored the noise in the surrounding and stared in front of me, deep in concentration.

"Checkmate!" Chet cried out, looking triumphant.

I glanced up at him, unfazed. "You sure about that?"

My friend frowned and studied the board in between us again. "Um…yes?"

I smiled to myself and captured his king in one fell swoop.

"I win."

Chet gaped at me. "But-I ju- a but- you can't do that!"

"Oh but I just did." I said and smiled contentedly. Chess was my game.

"I don't know how you do it, Frank." Chet sighed as he slumped in his chair. "You are just too smart sometimes. It's not fair."

I laughed. "That's what Joe says too."

"Poor kid." Chet shook his head and chuckled as I frowned at him.

"Eeeeewwww!" A little girl flung herself at Chet and buried her face in his shoulder. "Get it away from me!"

A few feet away, my brother held a small frog in his hands, grinning widely.

"Come on, Iola." He said cheekily. "Why don't you give it a kiss since it is _so_ much better looking than me."

"No!" She cried and looked up at her big brother. "Make him stop! Make him stop!"

Joe practically bounced over and pushed the squirming animal closer to her. His clothes were all muddy and his face was no better.

"You know you wanna." He taunted in a sing-song voice.

Iola buried her face again and shook her head.

"Little kids." Chet and I sighed in unison.

I reached out and grabbed Joe by the neckline of his t-shirt, which was the cleanest part.

"Don't bully girls." I said sternly.

He scowled at me. "I am not! Iola is just being Iri-ire-irk- silly."

"Irrational?"

"Yeah, that. She is being that." Joe nodded.

Iola turned to glare at him. "That's because you are trying to get me to kiss a frog!"

"You said it was better looking than me!"

"Well, yeah, but that doesn't mean I wanna kiss it." She touched her lips. "These lips are waiting for the right man. One day my prince will come!" She sang then turned up her nose at the frog. "And kissing it might turn him into prince, like in the stories, who would be tall and handsome and sweep me off my feet."

Chet looked confused. "Isn't that what you want?"

Iola raised an eyebrow at him. "But he would be old!" She made a face. "Like 12 or something."

Joe also crinkled his nose unhappily. "You're right. That is old." Then he put the frog down and patted it on its head before pushing it away. "Bye bye lil'- I mean old guy."

I shook my head, my dark hair falling in my eyes. "Guys, 12 isn't that old."

This time, they all stared at me like _I_ was crazy. Even Chet.

"You can get married at 12." Iola said matter-of-factly and folded her arms across her chest.

I was just about to correct that statement when a car pulled up and Mrs. Morton got out of the car.

"See you guys later." Chet said and took Iola's hand.

"Bye." I said as Joe and I waved our goodbyes.

After they left, Joe plopped down on the front porch of our house where I was sitting and looked at the chessboard. "You beat Chet?" He asked and rubbed his nose with the back of his hand, smearing more mud on his face.

"Yup, 8 times in a row." I told him proudly.

My little brother nodded "The list again, huh?"

I sighed. Joe was referring to what he calls 'The List of things Frank wants to do so he can feel grown up'. I disagreed with the name. They helped stimulate my mind, grown-up feeling or not.

"Yes, the list." I said, resigned to calling it that anyway, as I packed up my chess set carefully. It was given to me by our dad and was very special to me. "Go wash your hands, Joe."

Joe held his hands out in front of his face. "They aren't that dirty." He said and wiped them on the front of his shirt. It didn't do much since that was also covered in mud.

I rolled my eyes and shooed him towards the house. I loved my brother. I really did, but sometimes he could be such a slob.

I shuffled him into the house and tried to get him to wash his hands one more time. He, however, decided to get sidetracked by the jar of cookies on the kitchen counter.

Carefully climbing up, he lifted the lid on the cookie jar and peered in, his eyes glinted mischievously.

"Don't put your hands in the jar." I told him. "They are dirty."

"I know. Stop bugging me." He said. "I'm not dumb."

I didn't say anything and looked at my feet instead. Joe threw a potholder at me in response.

I laughed and climbed up beside him. Using my clean hand, I reached in and grabbed a chocolate chip cookie. After I popped it in his mouth I decided to take one for myself. It wasn't lunchtime for a couple of hours, so it wouldn't hurt.

I hopped off the counter and placed my chess set on the shelf we usually kept it on and looked at my brother who was still staring into the jar.

"If you want more-"

"I know, I know, go wash up. I got it, Mom." He rolled his eyes at me now. "But there are a few cookies missing."

He jumped off the counter, letting out a great whoop before he landed, almost stumbling. I made a mental note not to do that anymore and to make sure he didn't either.

"This smells like a mystery!" He shouted and starting humming the Pink Panther theme while darting up and down around me.

I grinned. We love mysteries. It was something that we got from our dad.

Joe stopped abruptly in mid-chorus and snapped his head in my direction.

"Very suspicious." He said. "You, sir, look like a thief to me." He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at me. "Do you plead guilty?"

I raise my chin and played along with my little brother.

"Innocent until proven guilty!" I claimed, quoting my father's words. "If you can prove it, of course."

Joe grinned and tackled me to the ground with a growl. We tumbled around, laughing our heads off. I tried to forgive and forget how muddy Joe was at the moment.

I used my size against him and managed to sit on top of his stomach, pinning his wrists to the ground.

"Do you concede?" I huffed.

"Yeah, I conceive." My brother replied.

I laughed at him. "It's concede."

"That's what I said. Concede."

"No, you said conceive."

"I did not! I don't even know what that means!"

"Did too. Neither do I!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Why can't you just say 'Do you give up?' like normal people?"

"Cuz' that wouldn't be as fun."

"Right, and you are always all about the fun, Frank."

"Oh, I'll show you fun!"

"Boys!" A loud voice boomed out from the top of the stairs.

We froze, my hands around Joe's neck while his hands were on my face.

"Uh, hi Aunt Trudy!" Joe's voice sounded a bit too forced.

Our aunt gave us both stern looks as she descended down the stairs. We both got to our feet as quickly as we could. She could be pretty scary if we made too much noise sometimes. I think it was an old people thing.

"What is this ruckus about?" She inquired.

Joe meekly raised his hand and flapped it about.

"Yes, Joseph."

"I was on a case. A really important one."

"Is that so?"

"Yes." Joe bobbed his head up and down. "The case of the missing cookies."

"Would that have anything to do with the mud you are tracking all over the house."

"Uh…" Joe bit his lip. "Not really. No"

"I see. Carry on."

"So… I counted the cookies this morning and I noticed that we were missing a few now. I know I didn't eat them. So I confronted my suspect and he fought back. If that doesn't say guilty, I don't know what does."

Aunt Trudy gave a nod of understanding as she stood before us. "So you thought it was alright to corner an innocent young man and accuse him of something without proper evidence?"

My brother started drawing circles on the floor with his muddy sneakers. "I didn't think he was innocent." He said softly.

"Did you have evidence?" She asked.

I grinned at my aunt. She _was_ dad's sister.

"Innocent until proven guilty!" I stated again, ignoring Joe shooting daggers in my direction.

"Quite right." She agreed. "And how do you know it was not I who stole the cookies and ate them myself. I did make them, you know."

Joe crossed his arms over his chest and his eyebrows creased together. "You guys are ganging up on me. It's not fair."

"Life isn't always fair, little one." Aunt Trudy said and pushed a blonde lock of hair away from his eyes.

"Is this because I didn't wash my hands when I came in the house? Ok, fine. I'll go wash my hands." He said and headed up the stairs, grumbling all the way.

"And use soap!" My aunt called and ruffled my hair as she walked past.

She went over to the kitchen counter and reached into the jar, taking out two cookies. One for me, one for her.

She smiled and pressed a finger to her lips.

I smiled back and zipped up my lip before throwing away the key.

"Now go wash up. I'll make you boys a proper lunch before your folks come back." She said and nudged me towards the stairs.

"Ok." I said. "And sorry about the mess."

"No worries. I'm not the one who is going to clean it." She answered. "Now, go help your brother."

I found Joe pulling off his shoes and chucking them in the corner, still muttering to himself.

I moved towards him, holding out the remaining piece of cookie as a peace offering.

"You know we are just messing with you, bud." I said gently, hoping he wasn't mad at me.

He shot me a dirty look before flinging his equally dirty shirt at me. I step sided it and grabbed his neck in a headlock, giving him a noogie on the head with my free hand.

"You know I love you, little brother." I told him as he wriggled and yelled for help.

He managed to push me off him and snatch away the cookie, laughing happily and eyes twinkling with mischief.

"Yeah, I know." He said. "I just hate baths."

"And soap."

"And soap." Joe grimaced, crinkling his nose again.

"You're a messy _and_ dirty slob." I teased as I pushed him into the bathroom.

I heard him laugh and soon the water started running.

That's my Joe. He forgives people easily and is so good-natured all the time. Well, most of the time.

I look around his room and my eyes bulge out. There were clothes everywhere, and not to mention, toys and school books. When I said he was messy just now, that was me, making an understatement. It looked like his room had blown up, flipped upside down and stirred itself in an attempt to become a cake. It was the complete opposite of how my room looked.

It actually hurt looking at the mess. I don't know how he always managed to get it to look like this, but Joe will be Joe.

So I started picking up the toys and putting them on the shelves, in the hopes of getting a slight glimpse of the floor, when a loud boom of thunder made me drop what I held in surprise.

I hurried over to the window to see thousands of little water droplets falling from the sky pouring into the streets and lawns.

It wasn't this heavy a few minutes ago, and when we were out there the clouds weren't so dark. I sure hoped it wouldn't get too bad before Mom and Dad came back.

Joe flung open the door and he rushed over to me, clean and dressed, but dripping wet. "That was real loud." He said. "You okay, Frank?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I took the towel around his neck and rubbed his soaked hair with it. "Good thing Chet and Iola went back when they did."

"You think Mom and Dad are okay?" He asked and tried to take his towel back.

"I sure hope so."

* * *

After dinner (and a lot of scrubbing furniture and floors), Joe and I sat in the living room with our Aunt Trudy.

I was doing my English homework, Joe was watching TV, and Aunt Trudy was knitting something that had the makings of a scarf.

Our parents hadn't called all day and the rain had turned into a storm. I was worried, and I could tell my aunt was too from the way she kept glancing from the clock on the wall to the phone.

Joe felt the tension and started singing loudly along with the TV, trying to get me to sing with him.

"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! Come on, Frank!" He bounced up and down on the couch. "Turtle Power!"

The fact that both Aunt Trudy and I were being too quiet scared him and he knew something was wrong, but typical Joe behavior was to try and cheer us up by being goofy.

He started poking me in the ribs and pulling my ears to get me to lighten up, so I leaned over and grabbed his wrist. Pulling him closer to me, I tickled him as hard as I could until he laughed so hard he started gasping for air. The funny face he was doing made me laugh too, and for a while, I had forgotten that I was anxious.

That was until the channel changed from the kid one to the news.

"We interrupt this program to give you a live broadcast of the damage from the storm. The heavy rains have caused a landslide along the roads from the city to a small town called Bayport. A few cars were seen along that way before the landslide buried the roads. The rescue teams are working hard to get those people out, but please stay in doors until the rain has stopped completely. More from-"

There was bright flash of light and the whole house went dark, soon the rumble of thunder followed. I hated power-outs.

We all sat in silence, just listening to the sound of the rain that fell all around the house. Next to me, Joe was sitting as still as a rock.

"Boys, are you alright?" I heard our aunt call from on end of the room. "Frank? Joe?"

"Yeah." I called back and pulled my brother into a hug. "We're good"

I then heard Aunt Trudy making her way to the kitchen to find some candles.

"Frank?" A soft voice piped up.

"Yeah, bud?"

"You don't think…they were caught in the landslide, do you?"

I hugged him tighter to me. "No. They weren't." I said, half to myself as well. "They are probably still in the city, buying us something. They'll be okay." I knew that my brother would believe me when I said that, but I really really hoped that I believe in what I was saying as much as Joe did.

A small light flickered on and Aunt Trudy walked towards us with a flashlight in one hand and a candle in the other.

She handed the flashlight to me and I shone it on the candle as she tried to light it. After two strikes, the match lit up and she held it to the candlewick.

"Scary story time!" Joe hooted much too loudly and took the flashlight. "Once upon a time there lived a -"

A soft jingle interrupted him from the small table beside Aunt Trudy's chair. I have never seen her move so fast to pick up any kind of technology. I didn't even remember she had that with her. I think she had forgotten as well.

"Hello? Fenton? Is that you?" She asked, her voice shaking ever so slightly.

The small sigh and smile that followed the answer on the other end was the best thing I ever saw. I could feel the weight on my chest being lifted off and thrown straight into the trashcan.

"Is that Dad?" Joe practically screams.

I clamped my hand over his mouth so I could hear what she said.

"I see… You saw the news as well… No, I did not forget I had a hand phone. You should have called earlier Fen, you scared the children. I know you are having a good time and forgot like you usually do but take responsibility… No, I was not scared, please. I'm a grown woman… So you won't be back until tomorrow?... Yes, everything is fine. You don't have to worry… The boys are behaving themselves…" I saw her eyes move to us. "Yes, even Joe."

I could feel Joe grinning from ear to ear when she said that. He loved it when she covered for him. She could be real scary sometimes, but she really loved us.

"Alright, take care now… See you tomorrow, hon… Goodbye." Aunt Trudy clicked off her hand phone and sighed with relief. "They are fine. They decided to pick something up for you two before coming back, so they were not on the road when the landslide hit."

"Yes!" Joe pumped his fists in the air. "You. Are. Welcome." He smirked at me. "I saved the day."

"You wish, squirt." I laughed and ruffle his fluffy golden hair. "But Aunt T said that they were getting stuff for 'you two', keyword there being 'two'.

"How do you know it's not the too with the two Os?" Joe asked and attempted to push me away.

"Cuz' I'm the oldest, and I say so."

"You aren't that much older than me, Frank."

"I'm still the oldest, and the smartest, and the tallest."

"But I'm the cute one."

We wrestled around on the floor, laughing and bantering like usual. Our family was safe, we were safe. Life was good. We were probably in for tougher times, so it was good to live in the moment. The moment where we could laugh and be happy, with all of us alright and safe. That was the most important.

"Hey Frank." My little brother suddenly stopped trying to pull my hair out as I sat on top of him again. His face turned really serious and for a second I was worried.

"I didn't get to tell my scary story."

I let go of him and lay on the floor next to him. "Ok, shoot."

"So, once upon a time, there lived a kid. His name was Frank Hardy."

"I don't like where this is going, little brother." I warned in a teasing tone.

"And Frank Hardy had this really adorable brother who could do anything." Joe continued, ignoring me.

"Sure." I said, letting that one slide as well.

"And one day, his wonderful, amazing, super fantastic brother found out something that was really frightening about Frank."

"Joe, you are at two strikes, one more and you are out."

"The really frightening thing about Frank was that…"

He paused for dramatic effect and turned his head so I could see the naughty look on his face. "Frank didn't know the meaning of 'conceive' and he said so."

I blinked. "That actually is pretty scary."

"Yup."

"I should find out what it means." I said thoughtfully.

Joe laughed and shone the flashlight under his chin. "The End."

* * *

_I wanted to do a fun and hopefully cute story, but what is a Hardy boy story without a bit of worrying? (Seemed more together in my head than when I actually wrote it out. Haha). Hope you enjoyed my first HB fanfic even though it had hardly any plot (ok ok, no plot)._

_Just a fun fact: That part about the concede/conceive mix up is based on a true story that happened between me and a little friend of mine (who was 8 at the time), it was so cute. It's nice to have them do normal things sometimes. Makes them seem more down to earth. hah. Hope it was normal enough._

_I know Frank seems pretty mature for a 9 year old, but I always thought he was always pretty grown-up by nature. To me it nicely balances out Joe who can be pretty childish at times. _

_Disclaimer: Love the Hardy boys and always always will. But will never ever own them._


End file.
